A Year in the Life
by JustADreamAway735
Summary: Thirteen years have passed from the end of the movie, and life could not be better. Well, life could not be better for everyone else. For Christophe 'Chip' Potts, it feels like his life is about to rip at the seems! Life isn't exactly easy for eighteen-year-old Chip as he deals with a kindling love, the death of a loved one, and the everyday shenanigans of the Delacroix castle.


September: Taking the Plunge

"Stop sweating and man up!" a small girl ordered to Chip. Her delicately manicured hands were planted firmly on her eight-year-old hips, blue eyes glaring at the eighteen-year-old in front of her.

But Christophe "Chip" Potts could not stop pacing back and forth across the polished marble tiles or wringing his cold, sweaty hands. How could he?! His very existence could be changed in the next few minutes if he acted upon his decision!

Chip stopped at the sight of his reflection in the hallway mirror. What a wreck he looked like. His normally sandy blond hair looked coarse and brittle, askew from running calloused hands through it so many times. Hazel eyes were bloodshot and circled with black rings, and his sun-kissed skin was tinged with a pallid undertone. Chip let his head fall defeatedly; he shouldn't be too hung up on this, right? It should be easy, like any other conversation between friends.

Then again, it wasn't every day that he'd be giving a special something to a very special girl. Oh, his head was spinning with the conflicting emotions inside of him!

While Chip's head was buried into his hands, the small girl stood, arms crossed and eyes bored. "Are you quite done with your blubbering?"

Now it was Chip's turn to be glaring. "Well I'm sorry that my emotional breakdown is _so_ boring for you, Your Highness. But, if you don't mind, I'd like to get my sanity straight before I...Oh Dieu, help me!"

The girl groaned and proceeded to shake his shoulders as best her little hands could. "First, I told you to call me Sophie! Not 'Princess' or 'Highness', just Sophie! Second, get a _hold_ of yourself! She likes you enough so that you won't get slapped or whatever once you ask her. And besides, the worst she can say is no!"

Chip threw his arms up over his head in exasperation. "That's exactly what I don't want to happen!"

"Well, what else do you want me to tell yo-!"

The ornate oak door swung open, revealing a rather pretty, rather confused maid who was currently wondering why the princess had Christophe in a near chokehold. A bemused smile grew on her carmine lips, and she asked,"Erm...hello?"

In a flash, Chip leapt into a stiffened standing position, pale cheeks gaining back their color in shades of dark pink. He stuttered,"Bon-Bonjour, Lillian! I was um, wondering, if-you know, if you had some time...if you would...would..."

Sophie whispered, "Like to run away and get married!"

"Like to run away and-" Chip broke off when he realized what he was about to say. He laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand while tightly gripping Sophie with the other. "Excuse me for one second, please, Lillian. I just have some...pest control to take care of."

"Alright...?"

Chip strode down the hallway in long, purposeful strides, practically dragging Sophie behind him. Once around the corner, he pointed firmly to her room and ordered, "In there. Now."

She pouted and crossed her arms. "Why?! I wasn't doing anything bad! And you know as well as I do that what I said was true: you _do _want to marry her!"

Chip felt his face heat up under that accusation. He shook his head, and pushed her into her bedroom. "No more out of you! I'll do as I please without you saying those kinds of things, _Princess._"

Under her doorway, Sophie threw her hands up in exasperation. "Fine! _Excuse_ me for trying to help you for once!"

She slammed the door shut, leaving Chip shaking his head tiredly outside. Eight-year-olds, what were you gonna do with them? It's not like he hated Sophie, he actually cared for and loved her greatly; she just happened to be the little sister he was glad he never had, and a _major_ royal pain. Literally. It was times like these that he was amazed that his mom, Cogsworth, and Lumiere were able to put up with Prince Adam as a child, who was even worse than Sophie! No matter what, she never failed to be a bossy, sassy little demon who would be the reason that he'd be bald by the time he turned twenty. Still, he had to hand it to her, the girl could always turn any situation in her favor-sometimes, she could even be a sweet little girl.

Sometimes, that is.

Wanting to forget about the small bump in the road, Chip quickly walked back to where his current object of affection waited.

"Sorry 'bout that, Lillian." He scratched the back of his neck. "Sophie-err, Her Highness-can be a bit of a..."

"Pain?" She finished. She smiled at his shocked expression and continued, "I didn't mean to offend,Christophe. I merely meant that-"

"No no, please, there isn't any need to apologize. 'm just surprised. Not a lot of people here are bold enough to have even a remotely bad thought against the royal family." Well, excusing himself and a few others, of course, but that was because they personally knew Adam and Belle. For a scullery maid, she certainly had more backbone than he thought.

"Believe me, I, along with everyone else, care about the princess, but I also know what it's like to have younger brothers and sisters."

"I didn't know that you have siblings."

"There's a lot you don't know about me."

A silence engulfed them. Lillain shifted slightly from foot to foot, and Chip focused on particularly nothing behind her. Well, this certainly wasn't where he wanted their conversation to go to. _Stupid, stupid, _**_stupid!_**_, _he silently reprimanded himself. _Ugh, what a mood killer._

Lillian coughed and hesitantly asked, "Christophe, there, um...there was something you wanted to tell me earlier, yes?"

"Oh, yes! Of course, how could I have forgotten? Whoops, silly me. Yup." His inner self was practically bleeding from slapping his forehead so hard. "Just...follow me, please. I need to show you something that I got which I think you'll like."

Refraining from hanging his head low, he sighed and led her to another room, feeling his cheeks heat up like a fire ember. _Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, have mercy on me, _he inwardly prayed.

As the boy and the girl disappeared around the opposite corner, Sophie peeked from behind a marble pillar and shook her head. See, this was what happened when people didn't want her help.

* * *

"Oh, wow," Lillian breathed. She nodded in approval, smiling her thanks to Chip.

"Nice, right?" Chip beamed. "I saw it in the catalogue, and I knew that I had to order it!"

"Well, thank you very much, Christophe. I very much love it, and I'm sure the other maids will be happy too."

Chip's shoulder's dipped somewhat at the mention of the others. "Yeah...yeah, I'm sure they will."

"Alright, thanks for showing me the new broom orders." She walked off and waved, saying, "I'll see you around at dinner, Christophe!"

"Yeah..." he said half-heartedly. "Bye..."

Soon Lillian was out of sight. Chip ran his fingers once more through his hair and leaned back on the stack of brooms that he hoped truly impressed her. Still, he was proud of himself: he actually was able to hold himself in her presence without feeling like he was about to drown in sweat and nerves. A small step forward, but a step nonetheless.

Chip smiled. He was going to win her over eventually, and this moment signified the beginning of that journey.

* * *

_A/N: YES YES YES I __**KNOW**__ I just said that I was going on hiatus. I just thought I should squeeze this thing on here while the muse was strong, if only to see what you guys thought of this. Now is it really fair of me to start a new multi-chap while I said I was going on hiatus, and while I already have another multi-chap up that I haven't touched in like three months?_

_...Well, no. And I'm SO sorry about this. I only hope that you guys are happy enough with this little sneak peak that you can forgive me about all of my misdoings. Pretty please? I know that I'll get to this and 'Leaves in Autumn' as soon as I can, alright? Pinky promise or I will drink a glass of liquid from the River Styx._

_I'll make this story kickass, for every one of my lovely readers._

_Just for you_

_Until next time_

_-(insert real name here)_


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